Namek: An Alternate Ending
by CosmoCatte
Summary: Oneshot. What if Goku decided that his x20 Kaio-Ken would be his absolute last stand against the tyranny of Frieza? Would it be enough, or would he simply be torn apart by the strain of the boost before he could end Frieza once and for all?


Namek

An Alternate Ending

Goku landed on the mountain Frieza had just cut in half, an admittedly frightening demonstration of what only fifty percent of his power was able to do. For the first time since the battle against Frieza had begun, a feeling settled in Goku that made his worn body feel that much heavier and made the aching of his body burn that much more…

Fear.

Fear crept into Goku's heart… and with that fear came a painful realization that the man didn't want to acknowledge…

'_O-oh boy… I can't win… If I can't even handle fifty percent'a his power, how's there any chance I can defeat him?'_

Frieza, on the other hand, floated towards Goku as calmly as ever, landing across from the battered Saiyan on the other side of the split mountain. A small grin played on the tyrant's pale face, his eyes scrunched in a most amused manner as he watched Goku's chest rise with heavy, strained breaths. The look of realization and crushing defeat on Goku's face was like music to his ears… the protector had finally lost his will to protect.  
"Now, now, don't worry. I won't just kill you like that." Frieza taunted, confident in the fact that he far outmatched this pathetic excuse of a fighter, now, and still with only a portion of his true power. "Now, that… would be _terribly_ unsatisfying…"

'_I… I could try increasin' the Kaio-Ken to a times twenty, but I don't even know if my body can handle that!'_ Goku let out a hacking cough, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth as his injuries were beginning to catch up with him. _'If he's really only usin fifty percent though, I'm sunk anyways…'_ Goku remained silent under the gaze of Frieza, the killer of the Saiyan race looking quite relaxed in contrast to the Earth-raised Saiyan's much more tense demeanor.

Frieza rolled his shoulders in an almost teasing manner, reminding Goku that he'd only _just_ began to break a sweat during their fight. "It's far too late to be regretting your choices, you know… after all, you're the one who started this."  
Yes, it seemed that Frieza had already decided the winner of their 'scuffle', so to speak, mulling through the ways that he could draw out Goku's death and make it all the more enjoyable for himself, and painful for the Saiyan… After all, anyone who forced Frieza to summon so much of his power was going to get anything but a quick and easy death.  
No, that would be too kind for such a filthy monkey.

'_It… it doesn't matter, I've gotta take the chance!'_ Goku knew he was out of options, as he dropped down into a firm squat, his muscles burning in resistance at even this slight moment. _'Please, please just let him be bluffin' this time, let this be all the power he's got…!'_  
A red aura wrapped around Goku, bursting out and upward like a fiery inferno that consumed him whole. He grit his teeth, releasing a guttural growl from deep in his chest under the strain of the immense power-up. His muscles bulged outward, veins pulsing strongly beneath the surface, as he pushed himself to the limit and then beyond it.  
Feeling his body cry out in pain and resistance, just barely holding himself together and resisting the force the Kaio-Ken was exerting on him from the inside, Goku roared to action.

"KAIO-KEN!"

Faster than anything Frieza had expected, the power-boosted Goku lunged at his foe and knocked him away with a right hook, sending him flying backwards through the air before he could even react to the sudden and last-ditch effort.

'_Ka… Me…'_  
Goku followed up his right hook with another heavy punch, the crushing blow digging into Frieza's gut and sending him soaring over the waters of Namek.

'_Ha… Me…'_  
He swerved below Frieza, bending his knees before throwing out a two-legged kick that sent Frieza shooting high into the sky. Immediately after, he righted himself, cupping his hands at his side in time for frightening amounts of blue energy to begin forming into a ball between them. The energy let off a shrill cry as it was focused into a potentially lethal blast, bursting from something small to a ball so big that it pressed against Goku's hands, burning his own palms as he threw them forward.

"HAA!"  
The moment Goku thrust his hands forward, a massive beam of blinding blue energy was sent into the sky.

Frieza had only just recovered when he saw the rapidly-approaching wave of raw power, throwing his hand out with a shout to stop the blast short. The force behind the attack was enough to make his body go rigid, and it became apparent to Frieza that giving Goku any sort of time to formulate one more plan may very well prove to be his own downfall.

Goku's voice roared across Namek for all who still remained to hear, his arms twitching in resistance and his fingers cramping as he continued to pour energy into the blast, the strain and power of the Kaio-Ken slowly but surely taking its toll on him.

Frieza unleashed a strained yell of his own, forming a small ball of his energy to push against Goku's much larger wave - something, anything to deal with this last cry of strength from the cursed Saiyan monkey! The ball of energy swelled with his own power, pushing into the Kamehameha with such force that the two attacks exploded against each other.  
The battlefield was washed in blinding light and powerful winds in the wake of the cataclysmic impact of the two powerhouses' attacks, Frieza shielding his eyes in a futile attempt to protect himself…

How unfortunate for him , that he couldn't sense what was coming next...

Though the power of the Times Twenty tore at Goku, eating away at him from the inside, Goku held tight to the power. Not done yet, he forced himself through the wind and the hot remnants of his own and Frieza's attacks, burying his fist in Frieza's gut with a crushing force and knocking the wind from the Frost Demon.  
Frieza keeled over, eyes bugging out before a devastating uppercut sent him shooting further into the air, far above the clouds and above the fading explosion that their clash had left.

Goku flew up after Frieza, small pieces of his skin flaking off and trailing behind him as an almost spider-web like pattern of glowing red cracks appeared across his body. He clamped his hands together, throwing them down in a sledgehammer blow that crashed directly into the gem on Frieza's skull with a furious cry, small bits of the gem breaking away as Frieza was sent shooting down to the ground hundreds of meters below.

'_Just… a little longer!'_ Goku could hear King Kai screaming somewhere in the back of his head, urging him to stop, to yield, while there was still time. Warning him about what the Kaio-Ken was doing to him…

But he couldn't stop.

If Goku stopped, then all of this would have been for nothing!

Wind whistled by Goku as his body sliced through the air at an increasing pace, his feet slamming square into the center of Frieza's chest with such force that the crater formed by his initial impact more than doubled in size with a single attack!

Covered from head to toe in a spreading web of red, various parts of Goku's skin continued to fall away to expose the foreboding crimson glow beneath. Frieza laid beaten and bruised beneath Goku, the surprise of the barrage having been exactly what was needed to make the damage more than a minor annoyance.  
Goku brought his arms in towards his chest, bending his knees and curling up into a ball above Frieza as he focused his power in his very core. This was the only way to end things, now. _'I just… I just hope that the others are a safe distance away…'_

Frieza began to push himself up, his red eyes glowing as he prepared to fire a dual set of blasts through Goku's chest to finish him off, but before he could do so Goku threw his limbs out with a roar, unleashing an explosive wave of energy around himself and around Frieza.  
A howl of pain was forced from him as this final act of determination and desperation from Goku clawed at him, the energy burning and cutting into him from its raw power - even stronger than what Goku had displayed with the devastating strength of his earlier Kamehameha.

'_I cannot be defeated…! Not by him, and not like this!'_ Frieza screamed as the energy attack detonated in one last hurrah of destruction, exploding outwards before dissipating into the air with small crackles of red electricity.

When the dust settled, all that remained in the crater was the bloodied, beaten body of Frieza, barely holding onto the edge of consciousness. His right arm was gone all the way up to the elbow, with the rest of his body having small bits and pieces practically cut or ripped away by the self-destructive assault Goku had unleashed upon him.

Goku himself was nowhere to be seen… the only thing that remained was tattered scraps of orange and blue slowly fluttering to the ground.

Frieza wasn't dead yet, no, but in such a wounded state, even the weakest of the remaining Z-Fighters on the planet would be more than capable of finishing the job. The last thing Frieza would see was a combined attack from Piccolo, Gohan, and Krillin, the trio destroying everything that was left of Frieza in one group beam…

Standing in the line for the Check-In Station in Otherworld, Goku smiled. Though many would feel sad or even upset that they had died, knowing that he had been able to defeat Frieza and protect the ones he cares for… that was enough to make his sacrifice worthwhile.

LINE BREAK

Some time back, I wrote this as an idle writing exercise, an alternate endings series that I plan to toy around with more in the future!

This is a complete rewrite of the original draft, and I have to say that I'm really happy with how it turned out! Consider this a deep peek into how I interpret the Kaio-Ken and its more deadly side-effects, and a peek into what might have happened of Goku made the decision to end things with his Kaio-Ken assault, no matter the cost.

Feel free to leave a review telling me your thoughts, I'd love to know what you think of this, and if there's any other scene where you'd love to see an alternate ending, please let me know that as well!


End file.
